"Modred's got his people trained real well, no question about that," said

Wyrdrune. "What makes it difficult is that hone of them know any truly

essential

information. Most of them are only message drops. And none of them knows who

he

really is. To some he's John Roderick; to others he's Michael Cornwall or

Mikhail Kutozov or Antonio Modesti. It just goes on and on. I don't know how

ever kept it all straight. In fact, I'm not even sure I did."

"What do you mean?"

"Have you ever heard of Phillipe de Bracy?"

She frowned. "No, I don't think so." Then she brightened. "Oh, sure, it's one

of

Modred's aliases. He uses it in France when he—"

"How did you know that?" Wyrdrune asked, interrupting her, watching her

intently. "Did you remember that just now, or did you all of a sudden simply

know it?"

She stared at him. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I think your first response was the correct one," he said.

"I

don't think you ever heard that name until I mentioned it just now and your

milestone filled in the blanks."

"But... no." She frowned and shook her head. "Are you sure?"

"Think carefully," said Wyrdrune. "Did you ever hear that name from me

before?"

She bit her lower lip, concentrating. "I suppose I must have, I—"

"Don't suppose. Do you remember me or Modred ever mentioning that name?"

She shook her head. "Well, if you put it that way, no, I don't remember, but

just because I don't remember doesn't mean it didn't happen."

"I never mentioned that name to you before," Wyrdrune said emphatically,

"because until a short while ago I didn't even know it. I had called every

single contact of Modred's I could mink of, and I'd run fresh out of ideas.

And

then, all of a sudden, I realized that Modred also used the name Phillipe de

Bracy. And the moment I realized it, I also knew who Phillipe de Bracy's

contact

in Marseilles was."

"Jacqueline Monet," said Kira. Her eyes grew wide. "My God, you're right! I

didn't know that until just now! It's like those dream visions the milestones

gave us." Nervously she moistened her lips. "You think it's Modred trying to

get

in touch with us?"

"Why didn't he use the mind link?" Wyrdrune said.

Kira had no answer. She remembered Modred's words to them the last time he

had